Page five above continues the story with a nice head and torso shot of Cap and Bucky. Seemingly, it is Kirby’s drawing, which is strongly embellished by Avison and Shores, followed by a shot of our heroes trotting that has some nice dynamics. The remainder of the page is unremarkable, with the possible exception of some amusing very Avison-like drawings of Steve and Bucky peeling potatoes.

Skipping page six, we move on to a very strong Kirby-driven page seven that commences with a shot of Betty Ross walking down a foreboding city street, followed by Cap and Bucky. In panel two, Betty looks up at a row of skyscrapers to observe a daring robbery in progress. This page has a slightly different inking style over strong Kirby pencils, and looks to me like neither Avison nor Shores. There is something very smooth and liquid in the ink lines here.

The slug-fest in panel four is particularly wonderful, as Captain America’s shield bashes the blue-jacketed thug into the upper reaches of panel space, while the figures of Betty and Bucky act as counterpoints to emphasize the action. The pile-up in the final panel is also quite neat, although not inked quite as crisply. The complexity of foreshortening in Cap’s body is remarkable.

The first four panels of page eight above have similar inking qualities to those of page seven. The musculature of the strongman who is slugging Cap in panel one is a trifle over the top, but Cap’s spayed figure is strong, and the strongman’s back is well rendered in panel two. In panel three, the fleeing criminal in the brown suit is remarkably well drawn. The angle of his protruding head and squared and rotated shoulders counterbalances his springing bent legs, giving particular dynamism to the pose, and also further propelling the running strongman holding Betty Ross. This is obviously Kirby lovingly giving a good deal of attention to these drawings.

Avison and Shores finish Kirby in the two final panels.

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Page nine is mostly Avison and Shores, with the latter clearly inking the head of the Ringmaster in panel three, evidenced by the profusion of crosshatched hay in the right of the panel. Still the poses, particularly the approaching elephants in the final panel are pure Kirby. We will conclude the story in the next post.